Abstract

The threat of attacks to passenger airplanes with explosives hidden in luggage loaded in the cargo holds or taken onboard is dramatically evident from terrorist events in the last years. FLY-BAG2 aim is to develop innovative solutions based on novel lightweight materials and structural concepts for the mitigation of the effects of an onboard blast and improve aircraft survivability. Direct strengthening of the airplane structure is not a viable solution since it would clearly result in thicker skins and a weight penalty; moreover, the related costs could not be justified in the majority of the commercial routes. Instead, the proposed blast mitigation and retrofitting solutions will be developed to be easily implemented on existing aircrafts. The project builds upon the former FLY-BAG FP7 project which developed and demonstrated a blast-resistant textile-based luggage container for narrow-body passenger airplanes. The aim is now to exploit the knowledge gathered in the previous project to develop new devices for both cabin (addressing the Least Risk Bomb Location requirements) and cargo environments and to enlarge the experimental validation of the new concepts including full scale tests on retired aircrafts. Research aspects to be addressed include the correlation between explosive charge and location with baggage filling percent in the ULD, the effect of pressurisation, or the effects to the aircraft structures and the passengers. The partnership is composed by the core partners from the former FLY-BAG project enlarged by new organisations bringing relevant expertise on modelling and design of aeronautic structures. The consortium is also characterised by a significant geographical spread with 7 different European countries represented and by the involvement of 6 industrial SMEs, as a confirmation of the industrial character of the project, aiming at pragmatic solutions and industrial exploitation of the project results.